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'''Summer''' White, with silver-grey mantle and wings. Black wing tips and noticeable white streak along fore-wing. Head is chocolate-brown, which does not reach nape or neck. White eye-ring.<br /> | '''Summer''' White, with silver-grey mantle and wings. Black wing tips and noticeable white streak along fore-wing. Head is chocolate-brown, which does not reach nape or neck. White eye-ring.<br /> | ||
'''Winter''' In winter the head is white with a few dark smudges. <br /> | '''Winter''' In winter the head is white with a few dark smudges. <br /> | ||
| − | *Identified by red bill and light grey back. A bit larger and with longer bill than [[Bonaparte's Gull]]. | + | *Identified by red bill and light grey back. A bit larger and with longer bill than [[Bonaparte's Gull]]. |
| + | '''First Winter''' this is very similar to normal adult winter plumage except that the bird retains juvenile wing coverts, the head and body moult commences during July. The juvenile feathering gradually fades with wear as the winter progresses and during the period January to May the coverts will be moulted and adult plumage come through. | ||
====Similar Species==== | ====Similar Species==== | ||
[[Little Gull]] is smaller with much thinner shorter bill, much more extensive hood, and very short primary projection.<br /> | [[Little Gull]] is smaller with much thinner shorter bill, much more extensive hood, and very short primary projection.<br /> | ||
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[[Laughing Gull]] is just slightly larger with much darker back, much larger bill, and small white primary tips.<br /> | [[Laughing Gull]] is just slightly larger with much darker back, much larger bill, and small white primary tips.<br /> | ||
[[Brown-headed Gull]] is very similar but they show different wing patterns and adults have white eyes. Juvenile Brown-headed Gulls have solid black wing-tips and white restricted to streaks on inner primaries and primary coverts dark-streaked. | [[Brown-headed Gull]] is very similar but they show different wing patterns and adults have white eyes. Juvenile Brown-headed Gulls have solid black wing-tips and white restricted to streaks on inner primaries and primary coverts dark-streaked. | ||
| + | |||
==Distribution== | ==Distribution== | ||
[[Image:Black headed gull 3.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Chicks/fledglings<br />Photo by {{user|AlanR|AlanR}}<br />[[Brownsea Island]], near Poole, [[Dorset]], May 2008]] | [[Image:Black headed gull 3.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Chicks/fledglings<br />Photo by {{user|AlanR|AlanR}}<br />[[Brownsea Island]], near Poole, [[Dorset]], May 2008]] | ||
Revision as of 19:44, 28 September 2014
- Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Larus ridibundus
Identification
Summer White, with silver-grey mantle and wings. Black wing tips and noticeable white streak along fore-wing. Head is chocolate-brown, which does not reach nape or neck. White eye-ring.
Winter In winter the head is white with a few dark smudges.
- Identified by red bill and light grey back. A bit larger and with longer bill than Bonaparte's Gull.
First Winter this is very similar to normal adult winter plumage except that the bird retains juvenile wing coverts, the head and body moult commences during July. The juvenile feathering gradually fades with wear as the winter progresses and during the period January to May the coverts will be moulted and adult plumage come through.
Similar Species
Little Gull is smaller with much thinner shorter bill, much more extensive hood, and very short primary projection.
Bonaparte's Gull is smaller with perhaps slightly darker back, more extensive black hood, slightly shorter black bill, no extensive black on primaries in flight, and pink legs.
Franklin's Gull is slightly smaller with much darker back, thicker bill, and large white primary tips.
Laughing Gull is just slightly larger with much darker back, much larger bill, and small white primary tips.
Brown-headed Gull is very similar but they show different wing patterns and adults have white eyes. Juvenile Brown-headed Gulls have solid black wing-tips and white restricted to streaks on inner primaries and primary coverts dark-streaked.
Distribution
Widespread and abundant over much of the region and often the most familiar gull in inland areas. Breeds in Iceland, the Faroes and British Isles, southern parts of Sweden and Finland and sparingly in Norway and across Europe from northern France to Russia and south to the Black and Caspian Seas. Breeds in small numbers in scattered areas of southern France, Italy, and Spain, Sardinia, Sicily and central Turkey.
Resident in north-west of range but migratory in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia. Winter range extensive in southern Europe and around the Mediterranean and south on Atlantic coasts of North-West Africa, the Middle East and southern Iraq.
Vagrant north to Svalbard, Bear Island, and Jan Mayen and south to Cape Verde Islands. Also vagrant to United States and Canada, mostly in the northeast but also in the midwest and along the pacific coast.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Subspecies sibiricus is generally considered invalid[2].
Some authorities consider this species to belong to genus Larus.
Has been treated conspecific with Brown-headed Gull as the population in Pamir shows intermediate characteristics between the two species. Hybrids with Mediterranean Gull, Slender-billed Gull and with Mew Gull have been reported.
Habitat
Breeds in colonies beside fresh, brackish or salt water in swamps, reeds and other vegetation, often on islands, shingle-bars and sandspits. Outside breeding season both coastal and inland. Found on sandy and muddy shores and estuaries, and inland on farmland, playing-fields, reservoirs and gravel pits. As a vagrant in the United States often found hanging out with Bonaparte's Gulls at loafing areas.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes worms, insects, fish and carrion.
Breeding
Breeds mostly in colonies, usually 10 to 100 pairs but some colonies with up to 10'000 pairs. Returns to colony in late April and March, lays eggs in late April and May. Normally the nest is formed from a scrape in the ground but may be on a pile of dead plant material. The glossy eggs are a light greenish-blue with dark blotches. Both adults incubate the eggs and feed the young.
Vocalisation
<flashmp3>Larus ridibundus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- British Garden Birds
- Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-headed Gull. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-headed_Gull
External Links
